Mcclain Arrested On Dui Charge

Former mayoral aide Clarence McClain`s fortunes suffered another reverse early Monday morning when police charged him with drunken driving after stopping him for making an illegal U-turn.

After McClain`s arrest at 3:20 a.m. in a new, blue Ford Thunderbird that had been leased, it was determined that his Illinois driver`s license had expired nearly two years ago, according to police and state records.

McClain, a former top aide to Mayor Harold Washington, is a subject of a federal investigation into suspected corruption in city government. Additionally, much of a recent $700,000 windfall to McClain in the settlement of a malpractice suit is being tied up by creditors, including the state, city and federal governments.

Police stopped McClain`s car after he made a U-turn in the middle of the intersection of 75th Street and Coles Avenue, according to Police Capt. Lawrence Forberg.

By Forberg`s account, McClain was taken into custody after Patrol Officer John J. Ciszewski said he noticed an ``odor of alcohol`` on his breath. McClain also failed a series of sobriety tests, including a Breathalyzer, Forberg said.

The Breathalyzer test showed that McClain had 0.14 percent alcohol in his blood, police said. According to Illinois law, a person is intoxicated with a blood-alcohol level of 0.10.

McClain would not tell police where he was going or where he had been without an attorney present, police said. They said he took a taxi from the Grand Crossing District police station, 7070 S. Cottage Grove Ave., after being released on a $300 bond. He is to appear in Traffic Court April 7.

McClain`s driver`s license expired on June 13, 1984, according to a spokesman for the secretary of state`s office.

The agency that leased the car McClain was driving said it had no record of having leased a car to him. The vehicle`s Illinois license plate, which apparently was obtained by the person who leased the car rather than the agency, is listed in the name of ``John McClair`` on South Langley Avenue, according to state records.

In addition, the Thunderbird did not have a city vehicle sticker, the purchase of which was the responsibility of the lessee, the agency said.

John McClain, a Chicago police officer who lives at the South Langley address, said he is the brother of Clarence McClain. He would not comment further.

Clarence McClain declined to discuss his arrest or his financial problems. ``No comment. Period,`` he said.

Earlier Monday, a spokesman for the secretary of state`s office incorrectly said McClain could not have gotten his driver`s license renewed because the City of Chicago was trying to collect unpaid parking tickets from him. Later Monday, another official said McClain had accumulated at least 10 unpaid tickets as of Oct. 6, 1983, but either had paid them or had them dismissed by Oct. 14 of that year.

The exact disposition of those tickets could not be learned because city and county agencies that handle parking-ticket collections were closed for the Casimir Pulaski Day holiday.

McClain, 44, is under federal investigation for helping a New York collections agency, Systematic Recovery Services Inc., in its effort to win Chicago contracts for collecting overdue parking tickets and water bills. A federal grand jury is trying to determine whether McClain was able to use influence in the Washington administration to help the company.